Call of Cthulhu Quick-Start Rules

Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft

The Great Old Ones ruled the earth aeons before the rise of humankind. Originally they came from the gulfs of space and were cast down by even greater beings. Remains of their cyclopean cities and forbidden knowledge can still be found on remote islands in the Pacific, buried amid the shifting sands of vast deserts, and in the frigid recesses of the polar extremes. Now they sleep — some deep within the enveloping earth and others beneath the eternal sea, in the drowned city of R'lyeh, preserved in the waters by the spells of mighty Cthulhu. When the stars are right they will rise, and once again walk this Earth.

Welcome to Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu Quick-Start Rules, a booklet that collects essential rules for Call of Cthulhu and presents them in abbreviated form.

This book comprises a basic roleplaying game system, a framework of rules aimed at allowing players to enact a sort of improvisational radio theater—only without microphones—and with dice determining whe­ther the characters succeed or fail at what they attempt to do. In a roleplaying game one player takes on the role of the gamemaster (or Keeper, in Call of Cthulhu), while the other players assume the roles of heroes in the story. The gamemaster presents the evening's adventure, and portrays the characters who aren’t being guided by players.

Call of Cthulhu is designed to be intuitive and easy to play. Character attributes follow a 3D6 curve, and the other Call of Cthulhu mechanics are even simpler. Virtually all rolls determining success or failure of a task are determined via the roll of percentile dice. This means that there’s less fiddling with dice of different types, and the concept of a percentile chance of success is extremely easy for beginners and experienced players to grasp.

Use this booklet to play Call of Cthulhu immediately. Game rules, pre-generated characters, and a classic adventure are included. You will need to supply your own dice.

If you're new to RPGs or Call of Cthulhu, just give this freebie a try. The rules are simple and the adventure is fun. There are four ready to play player characters and a blank 1920s character sheet. You won't regret to try this game and will understand [...]

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